The handwriting is on the wall.
If the road to power is through identity politics, pandering to each separate group, especially via monetay-giveaways, you wind up being Detroit...
..or Desert Hot Springs.
1. " Reuters announced last month: TONY RESORT CITY MULLS BANKRUPTCY, BLAMING WAGES, PENSIONS.
2. ... Desert Hot Springs, on the northern edge of the Coachella Valley near Palm Springs.... long ago picked up the nickname Desperate Hot Springs. Its a magnet for parolees and poor retirees living in low-cost tract houses and trailers.
3. On November 19, the Desert Hot Springs city council declared a fiscal emergency, usually a precursor to bankruptcy. The city has $20 million in annual budgeted expenses and only $14 million in revenues.
4. Officials fear that cuts in the budget70 percent of which goes to the police departmentwill undermine the progress made on public safety.
But one need only look at the citys salary schedule to understand whats really going on.
5. The average annual wage in the police department is $119,000 a year, with the average total compensation topping $164,000. And that doesnt include the unfunded liabilitiesthe unaccounted-for costs to pay for generous retirement benefits.
6. Wages for all categories throughout the city are astoundingly high, with many officials earning total-compensation packages well above $200,000 a year. The city managers salary and benefits top $300,000 annually.
7. The plight of Desert Hot Springs has prompted concern among Californias hardy pension reformers, who see it as a sign of things to come. But the states legislative leaders have mostly shrugged, perhaps because Desert Hot Springs, like other cities sliding into Chapter 9Stockton, San Bernardino, Vallejohappens to be on the economic margins.
8. .... Democrat Chuck Reed, mayor of one of Californias wealthier cities, San Jose. Recently, ... noted that San Joses police costs had soared in recent years, even as the city has significantly cut the police workforce. He blames this reduction in services on San Joses uncontrolled pension debt ....
9. As they ignore cascading budget crises in California cities, the states unions have been ramping up their attacks on Reed ... on behalf of a union-funded think tank....dismissed the idea that pension reform is a bipartisan cause, pointing out that the measure enjoyed right wing financial support as well as the support of this conservative writer. .... the states leading Democrats blasted the proposal.
10. While the Democratic leadership opposes a measure that takes aim at one of its vital constituencies, a few serious Democrats are backing Reednot because of some supposed right-wing conspiracy, but because they have enough foresight to see whats happening to municipal services. .... All of the cities that have gone into bankruptcy have different variables that have contributed to their problems, said Jack Dean, vice president of California Pension Reform.
The one consistent theme that all of them have is high payroll and pension costs. Unless those costs are reined in, Desert Hot Springs wont be the last city to find itself in desperate straits."
Desperate Hot Springs by Steven Greenhut - City Journal
In how many venues, on how many issues, must conservative direction be shown to be the only way to keep from 'killing the golden goose,' the American dream???
Do Liberals ever....ever....wake up?
If the road to power is through identity politics, pandering to each separate group, especially via monetay-giveaways, you wind up being Detroit...
..or Desert Hot Springs.
1. " Reuters announced last month: TONY RESORT CITY MULLS BANKRUPTCY, BLAMING WAGES, PENSIONS.
2. ... Desert Hot Springs, on the northern edge of the Coachella Valley near Palm Springs.... long ago picked up the nickname Desperate Hot Springs. Its a magnet for parolees and poor retirees living in low-cost tract houses and trailers.
3. On November 19, the Desert Hot Springs city council declared a fiscal emergency, usually a precursor to bankruptcy. The city has $20 million in annual budgeted expenses and only $14 million in revenues.
4. Officials fear that cuts in the budget70 percent of which goes to the police departmentwill undermine the progress made on public safety.
But one need only look at the citys salary schedule to understand whats really going on.
5. The average annual wage in the police department is $119,000 a year, with the average total compensation topping $164,000. And that doesnt include the unfunded liabilitiesthe unaccounted-for costs to pay for generous retirement benefits.
6. Wages for all categories throughout the city are astoundingly high, with many officials earning total-compensation packages well above $200,000 a year. The city managers salary and benefits top $300,000 annually.
7. The plight of Desert Hot Springs has prompted concern among Californias hardy pension reformers, who see it as a sign of things to come. But the states legislative leaders have mostly shrugged, perhaps because Desert Hot Springs, like other cities sliding into Chapter 9Stockton, San Bernardino, Vallejohappens to be on the economic margins.
8. .... Democrat Chuck Reed, mayor of one of Californias wealthier cities, San Jose. Recently, ... noted that San Joses police costs had soared in recent years, even as the city has significantly cut the police workforce. He blames this reduction in services on San Joses uncontrolled pension debt ....
9. As they ignore cascading budget crises in California cities, the states unions have been ramping up their attacks on Reed ... on behalf of a union-funded think tank....dismissed the idea that pension reform is a bipartisan cause, pointing out that the measure enjoyed right wing financial support as well as the support of this conservative writer. .... the states leading Democrats blasted the proposal.
10. While the Democratic leadership opposes a measure that takes aim at one of its vital constituencies, a few serious Democrats are backing Reednot because of some supposed right-wing conspiracy, but because they have enough foresight to see whats happening to municipal services. .... All of the cities that have gone into bankruptcy have different variables that have contributed to their problems, said Jack Dean, vice president of California Pension Reform.
The one consistent theme that all of them have is high payroll and pension costs. Unless those costs are reined in, Desert Hot Springs wont be the last city to find itself in desperate straits."
Desperate Hot Springs by Steven Greenhut - City Journal
In how many venues, on how many issues, must conservative direction be shown to be the only way to keep from 'killing the golden goose,' the American dream???
Do Liberals ever....ever....wake up?
